Christie made the comment during a statehouse news conference Tuesday.
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Trump had a troubled past as a casino operator in Atlantic City that led to $30 million tax debt to New Jersey.
But in November 2011, the state agreed to a $5 million settlement, cutting Trump’s debt by 83 percent.
The Times report says “the steep discount granted to the Trump casinos and the relationship between the two men raise inevitable questions about special treatment”. They continued to rent a helicopter from Mr. Trump for $390,000 a year, until they filed for bankruptcy again in 2014.
The news was circulating quickly Wednesday morning, and even some celebrities were picking up on it.
Christie still spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, however, and is expected to show at Trump’s first intelligence briefing in NY on Wednesday.
Christie was also a leading candidate to be Trump’s running mate before he chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. After endorsing Donald Trump for President this February, Christie said, “Donald and I, along with Melania and Mary Pat, have been friends for over a decade”.
“Donald Trump played Chris Christie just like he played the bondholders he brags about short-changing for his past business failures, and the taxpayers of New Jersey are $25 million poorer for it”, Murphy said.
While Trump’s casino received this miraculous good fortune, numerous other casinos in Atlantic City have been forced to shut down since then (including Trump’s Taj Mahal, which did not manage to survive and will close down in September 2016). According to New Jersey 101.5, “Atlantic City has struggled mightily in recent years after four casinos closed, causing a severe drop in the city tax base”. When Christie was sworn into office, Trump owed the state nearly $30 million in back taxes from casino ventures and had been in court over it for six years.
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“The New York Times was told repeatedly that the governor was unaware and uninvolved in a bankruptcy matter which began in 2005 while he was United States Attorney and was settled, without the governor’s involvement, in 2011 by the New Jersey Department of Treasury and the Office of The Attorney General as a matter of course, ” Murray said in an emailed statement.
